Chinese yard wins another bitumen carrier order

The newbuild has been ordered on behalf McAsphalt Marine Transportation. The company is believed to be an affiliate of the French civil engineering and construction materials group Colas.

The vessel is based on a FKAB Marine Design, and the practice will also support the basic and detail design phases of the project. The vessel features FKAB’s F-Bow.

The vessel will have a capacity of 11,700cbm. The vessel incorporates independent tanks for bitumen and asphalt, allowing the vessel to transport oil products as well as high-heat cargoes.

The design features a ‘twin skeg’ propulsion system in which twin four-stroke dual-fuel engines will turn controllable pitch propellers. The power and propulsion system will also feature a battery pack conferring an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) feature to safeguard the ships from black-out.

The main mover will be capable of operating on either LNG or LBG as the main fuel. Twin fuel tanks for the liquefied gas will be mounted forward on the weather deck.

The order extends Wuhu Shipyard’s recent record in niche tanker construction. The yard booked an order from Colas’ Continental Bitumen subsidiary for two 21,000cbm bitumen carriers in January 2021.